Why did old toilets have high tanks?

Reproduction high-tank toilet repairs are fairly simple and essentially the same as low-tank toilet repairs. Leaks where the flush tube meets the tank, constant running water, and having to hold the chain until the toilet flushes are among the common complaints about these toilets. Some of these issues are brought on by aging, while others are simply the result of poor design. When someone is working on a toilet, they frequently are unaware of its true age and may mistakenly believe it to be an antique.

To ascertain whether your high-tank toilet is a replica vs A flush lever on the front of the tank with a chain attached to it is a sure sign that you have a reproduction or a “converted” low tank toilet, so look for this. On top of the tank, genuine antique toilets have flush arms.

Another pretty good sign that the object is a replica is a tank with a lid. Genuine antique toilets almost never have lids.

A wood plate on top of the bowl where the flush tube connects to the bowl is another telltale sign that a toilet is a replica. On a low tank toilet, this plate covers the bolt holes where the tank would typically be fastened to the bowl.

The most frequent issue with reproduction high cistern toilets, especially with Gaylan models, is leakage where the flush tube attaches to the tank. The cause of the issue is the use of a 2″ x 1-1/2″ reducing nut and washer to attach the 1-1/2″ flush tube to the standard 2″ flush valve. This type of joint is notoriously leaky, and this is simply too large a step-down to be completed with nothing more than a rubber gasket. This stage of leaks results in discolored and corroded flush tubes and irate plumbers.

For those who want to stay authentic or are on a tight budget, we do carry the original Gaylan style nuts and washers; their part numbers are 51-150W and 51-20015.

For those who’d like to solve the problem once and for all, the solution is to replace the OEM reducing nut with our spud reducer, # 01-303 The spud reducer acts sort of like a funnel and makes the large reduction from 2” IPS to either an 1-1/2” or 1-1/4” flush tube. On vintage Kohler high tank toilets from the 1950s and later, a pair of spud reducers can also be used to swap out the 2″ flush tube for a 1-1/2″ flush tube.

A cheap plastic flush valve similar to those found in some replica high-tank toilets is shown on the left. Problems with short flush duration can be resolved by changing the valve for a tankball-style mechanism (on the right).

Another frequent issue with high-tank toilets is that the flush requires holding the pull lever down the entire time. This typically happens when a flapper-type flush valve is used. The flapper valve typically “sucks” closed before a complete flush is accomplished due to the volume and siphon produced by dropping a column of water six feet. Replace the flapper-style flush valve with a tankball-style valve to solve this issue. Our part number for this type of flush valve is 94-135. A tankball will “float” during the flush and allow the tank to drain completely without requiring you to stand there holding the pull chain.

The majority of other repairs for replica high-tank toilets are identical to those for low-tank toilets.

History of the Owen Iron Works & the Eureka cast iron toilet

Photos of a Eureka cast-iron toilet, courtesy of InspectApedia. com reader D. Stewart – 2022/10/11.

The cast iron Eureka toilet and numerous other cast iron products, including water meter box covers and perhaps manhole covers, were produced by Owen Iron Works in Gadsen, Alabama.

According to our research, the Owen Iron Works in Alabama can be at least partially attributed to the U S. Thomas Hennington Owen constructed a forge on Roupes Creek during the Civil War. (Story of Coal & Iron in Alabama, 1910 p. 157).

Evan Owen, a post by the grandson of Eureka / Owen Iron Works owner Evan Joseph Owen,

The Foundry Industry and the Owen name date back to Shelby Iron Works, when families from Wales (Great Britain) immigrated because the South lacked skilled operators.

– retrieved 2022/10/11, original source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1596864743791308/search/?q=owen iron works

DHS, EUREKA IRON WORKS [PDF] Encyclopedia of Detroit, – retrieved 2022/10/11, original source: https://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/eureka-iron-works Excerpt: An influential entity in American iron and steel production, the Eureka Iron Works operated for nearly 40 years. In 1853, Philip Thurber spent a summer vacationing in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula near Marquette. He was enthralled by the recent discovery of iron ore deposits in Northern Michigan. After testing a sample of the ore, Thurber returned to Detroit and reported the superior quality to a few potential capitalists. Among these men was Captain Eber Brock Ward, who would function as financial and organizational backbone of this venture. On October 15, 1853 the Eureka Iron Company was officially organized. The next year, following an inspection of potential locations for the Eureka Iron Works, a decision was made to pay $44,000 for a 2,200-acre plot known as “the Wyandotte,” the summer estate of Major John Biddle. On Dec. 12, 1854 the village of Wyandotte was established, part of present-day Wyandotte, Michigan. With two miles on the waterfront, the location allowed for direct access to the Detroit River and was in close proximity to other natural resources including timber and limestone. Ward signed a contract with Captain William Bolton to transport the stone needed to construct the Eureka Iron Factory, consisting of two furnaces. The Wyandotte Rolling Mill Company was established in 1855 to make use of the iron produced by Eureka’s furnaces, the stockholders for the two companies being chiefly the same.

The STORY of COAL & IRON in ALABAMA – 1910 [PDF excerpt] Library of Congress (full document found in Citations & References at page bottom) Excerpt: On the same creek (Marion AL) precisely one mile south of Tannehill, a forge was put up by Thomas Hennington Owen and Thomas Lightfoot Williams. “Over and over again, so Rose Owen tells me, they had to get their ore in the morning, and besides making the iron for the government, they had to make nails and horseshoes, shoe all their mules, and get the teams off to the railroad at Montevallo, before night. Mr. Williams also ran a big tan yard at Tannehill, and made saddles and harness for the Confederacy. The forge, being out of the way, escaped the enemys eye, but was destroyed in the June freshet of 1866. Mr. Owen was not an iron worker himself, but a planter and merchant of Jefferson County, and served in the latter eighteen-seventies as county commissioner. He employed an expert iron worker from Tennessee, Thomas C. Bratton, to build and operate the forge. All during the war Tannehill furnace was operated, making cannon balls, gun barrels, ordnance, all the munitioins of war, in addition to pots, pans, and skillets, for use of the Confederate army. When Croxtons detatchment came through Roupes Valley they happened upon Tannehill at the very moment when the cupola was being tapped and they made short work of it. They demolished one furnace entirely, blew up the trestle, tore up the tramway, burned the foundry and cast houses, and passed on to the settlement beyond, which they razed to the ground. This was the death blow. The Tannehill furnaces were put out of blast for good and all; the whole country around was abandoned and the forest left to its own. … The ruins of the furnace like some Welsh medieval tower stand forlorn, yet will they stand for centuries to come as memorial to the early iron-masters of Alabama, as the mute historian of the first generation of the iron industry in this State. – Op. Cit. p. 158-159. – James M. Gillespy of Birmingham.

Above: photos of this J. A. Vogel flush toilet, provided by Mike, an InspectApedia. com reader and posted originally.

remarkably resembles the pre-1900 “Elastic Valve Toilet” described in our sketch at the beginning of this article at TOILET TYPES, CONTROLS, and PARTS.

Readers with additional information about this restroom are invited to CONTACT us or to get in touch with Mike at [email protected]. com.

Other than the Rockford logo on the knob or valve, I am unable to identify any other names or numbers. It was discovered by the and here in central Texas in a barn that was estimated to be around 125 years old. It was stored in the barn.

He had just bought the place. I assumed it went into something akin to the hall tree wash basin because the porcelain was only on top and inside and there was nothing ostentatious outside.

Since it only rinses when the seat is pressed, it should ideally be in a bathroom or closet. Did it run water while you used it, or perhaps it had a solid lid that you closed after using it and pressed to flush?

Moderator comment:

Your toilet or one quite similar is described in

Vogel, Joseph A. FLUSHING APPARATUS FOR WATER-CLOSETS U.S. Patent 801,754 [PDF] issued October 10, 1905.

As you later noted, JA Vogel was a U. S. company in Wilmington, Delaware.

The cast-iron half-round bracket that held the wooden toilet seat was missing, save for a small piece of wood on the bracket’s left side in the first picture. By lifting the cam, the flush valve was activated, flushing the toilet bowl either during or after use.

These early flush toilets’ valves are described in detail in Vogels’ patent descriptions, which also reference a frost-resistant toilet drain system.

Excerpting from Vogels second patent disclosure – 1905.

A flushing device typically consists of a bowl, a tank, a valve-casing that communicates with the bowl and tank, a supply pipe with inlet and drain openings, and a rod that extends through the pipe and valve-casing and carries the inlet and flushing valves, the latter of which controls the flow of water between the bowl and tank.

Between the SUPPLY-pipe and the tank as well as between the tank and bowl, said rod is equipped with a bypass for the flow of incoming water between the inlet to the pipe and the valve casing, a seat-lid, and mechanisms that work when the seat-lid is depressed to raise the rod and open the inlet valve and close the flush valve.

and a spring inside the valve-casing designed to pull the rod downward, open the flush valve, close the inlet valve, and keep said components in that position normally. – Joseph A. Vogel.

These old photographs of toilets feature a cast iron or enameled steel toilet with what’s left of a flush valve, very similar to the Elastic Valve Closet sketch on this page.

Numerous experiments have been conducted in later toilet bowl designs.

U. S. An early history of this toilet and its flush mechanism can be found in patents citing JA Vogel as the inventor or assigned by an inventor to Vogel, starting in 1903.

An alternative to the U.S.-standard tank ball and flapper valve toilet flush system K. and in some other places, toilet siphon flush valves are turned on by pushing a button that sends water into the siphon, which then sends water into the toilet bowl to complete the flush.

The issue of running toilets brought on by leakage at the tank ball or flapper valve is resolved by the siphon flush valve controls on toilets.

As you can see from our image of a vintage Thomas Crapper toilet advertisement The siphon flush valve is not a novel concept; it has long been promoted as a way to reduce water waste and running toilets (from a wallpaper reproduction).

Depending on your location, a toilet may also be referred to as a water closet, WC, or loo.

The term “toilet” has many different synonyms, including “crapper,” “can,” “head” (likely the oldest term), and “commode” or, as my father called it, “pot” after the predecessor “chamber pot.”

The operation of toilets on boats, ships, and submarines presents unique challenges that are covered in detail in MARINE TOILETS.

Thomas Crapper & Co. They described their unsettling toilet device as an “Elastic Valve Closet” (London) []

Early flush lavatories, such as the one in our photo (left, Locust Grove, Samuel Morse Estate, Poughkeepsie, NY)

and similar to this 1890 model, [] employed a high wall-mounted reservoir tank, usually made of wood, to supply sufficient pressure and flow rate to clean and empty the toilet bowl.

By pulling a chain that operated the mechanism, the flush valve for this toilet’s wooden wall-mounted reservoir tank could be opened and closed.

Pulling the chain means flushing the toilet.

The toilet shown below is a more modern top-front-flush, high-mounted model. On New Zealand’s State Highway 1 between Christchurch and Akaroa, in Amberley, this toilet is situated in the restroom of the Brew Moon cafe.

Working restrooms are a necessary amenity at The Brew Moon, a microbrewery that produces its own excellent beers and whose sampling will attract at least some customers.

Below, you can see how the Brew Moon toilets’ upper front center-mounted flush control operates.

The components of this toilet’s flush control valve and cistern fill valve are shown in operation in the diagrams below. A separate overflow drain from the top of the cistern is included in the toilet (blue arrow, below right).

You can read more about how these toilets’ drains and vents work here.

The amount of water that older toilets use versus modern models is the biggest distinction. When compared to many older models, toilets made after 1992 use less than half as much water per use while offering an improved flush and new convenience features. For the best choices in toilets, look for the U. S. You can find models that meet demanding performance criteria and save money on your water and sewage bills by looking for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense label.

Question: X.L. Pump & Mfg. Co. Water Closet / Toilet Seat history

2019/11/13 Wes said:

The attached picture is of a VERY heavy weighted seat. The seat would have to be lowered to sit on due to the rigid iron bracket’s attachment. When you stood up, it would then emerge from the counterweight. Any thoughts on the age, particular usage, etc.? (The iron’s label reads 1XL PHILA 12) THANKS!

It’s interesting to note that this invention, self-lifting or counter-weighted toilet seats, has been in use in North America since about 1913 (Waltensperger US Patent 79150413). There was also a flurry of similar inventions in the U S. beginning in the late 1930s and lasting through the 1940s, but of course continuing today

Let’s look into the counterweighted toilet seat mechanism you have (which isn’t complete in your photo). Look very closely at the seat and any other parts you received it with to check for any trademarks or US PATENT NOs with numbers. If you find any, please report them to us here.

An illustration is Porters’ patented “sterile Toilet,” US Pat No. 2332111, which dates to 1943, the year I was born.

Thank you very much for your response. The history of toilets is an interesting subject to me.

After hearing your response, I looked a little closer than I usually would have liked to look for other markings. None found. But I later learned that IXL is actually a Philadelphia plumbing company’s trademark. I have included here:

(Found inside at p. If properly configured, the “I X L” Anti-Freezing Closet Combination is guaranteed to prevent freezing. A low-profile galvanized tank with a lid, an oval, porcelain-lined hopper, an oiled oak swing seat with balanced weight, ) a passage from a website promoting an anti-freezing toilet with a seat that looks remarkably like this one.

I have included another (the bottom) of this seat. Once more, thank you so much, and if you can or will, please enlighten me further.

Thank you for including the additional image and identifying the toilet seat as an IXL model.

I believe that the IXL Closet’s anti-freezing function would, of course, depend on designs other than the counter-weighted toilet seat, and that the weights were either intended to make a heavy oak toilet seat easy to lift (to encourage users who should raise the seat) or to prevent the door from freezing. (Or in certain designs, the counterweights were intended to create a normally-raised toilet seat for hygienic purposes.

IXL received the Gabbes 1916 water closet valve patent, which provides us with some additional background information and dates.

The dates of a few patents that I X L was assigned are listed below.

Polzer, Fridolin. “Fluid-pressure tool.” U.S. Patent 914,602, issued March 9, 1909. – assignee I X L Mfg Co of New York.

Levering, Henry W. “Means for closing valves.” U.S. Patent 1,094,796, issued April 28, 1914.

Gabell, Albert F. “Valve construction for water-closet apparatus.” U.S. Patent 1,203,724, issued November 7, 1916. Assigned to the I X L Pump And Mfg Company

Griffiths, William U. “Valve-operating means for flush tanks.” U.S. Patent 1,520,863, issued December 30, 1924.

Tracing I. X. L. History is a little hazy because there were I X. L. IXL Enterprises and IXL Holdings are additional companies located in Atlanta.

And your find about the I. X. L. The 1911 Year Book of the appeared to include the Anti-Freezing Closet Combination (below). Annual Architectural Exhibition Organized by the T-square Club of Philadelphia and the American Institute of Architects Philadelphia Chapter, Volume 17

Around the turn of the century, there were a number of “anti-freezing” valve and toilet designs as plumbing started to move inside from the hand-pump and outhouse and while central heating was still in its infancy and had limited and uneven heat distribution in buildings.

The Trenton Potteries Co. was established in 1894 and was made up of five potteries, including Enterprise, which had been located here since 1879. This conglomerate made sanitary ware: domestic, industrial, and institutional.

A five-pointed star encircling a number between one and six served as the company’s maker’s mark. The number ‘4’ designated Enterprise Pottery. ” – History of Trenton Potteries Co. , (Enterprise Pottery) (Abramson 1978).

Abramson, D.V. and T. Karschner. 1978. An Inventory of Historical Engineering and Industrial Sites, Trenton, New Jersey. On file, New Jersey Historic Preservation Office (NJDEP), Trenton, New Jersey.

Harney, W.J. 1929. “Trenton’s First Potteries.” Sunday Times Advertiser, July 7, 14, 21 and 28, 1929.

NJ, WHEN POTTERIES FLOURISHED in TRENTON – Transportation was Key, in Cultural Resources Digest, April 2008, New Jersey Department of Transportation, – retrieved 2022/08/24, original source: https://www.state.nj.us/transportation/works/environment/pdf/newyorkavenue042008.pdf Describes the Enterprise Pottery Co. & Trenton Pottery Co. in Trenton, New Jersey

Potteries of Trenton Society, A BRIEF HISTORY of the TRENTON POTTERY INDUSTRY [PDF] Potteries of Trenton Society 120 W. State Street Trenton, NJ 08608 USA, Web: https://potteriesoftrentonsociety.org/ – retrieved 2022/0824, original source: https://potteriesoftrentonsociety.org/a-brief-history-of-the-trenton-pottery-industry/ Excerpt: In 1873 Thomas Maddock moved to Trenton to become part owner of the Carroll Street Pottery and began experimenting in the manufacture of sanitary earthenware. Maddock was instrumental in developing the toilet flushing mechanism and many of the water closet designs that are still in general use today. Within a few years, the Carroll Street Pottery had switched to making predominantly sanitary earthenware. In 1879, a competing firm, the Enterprise Pottery Company, established the first factory built for the mass production of sanitary wares and, within a decade, Trenton was nationally renowned for these goods. By the turn of the century, numerous potteries in Trenton were producing items such as bathtubs, basins, sinks, toilets, urinals and various bathroom accessories.

The Trenton Potteries Company. 1896. Specialties Department/The Trenton Potteries Co., Manufacturers of Druggists’ Sundries and Essential Articles for use in Hospitals and Sick-Rooms. Brandt Press, Trenton, New Jersey.

The vendor described the toilet as an antique, original Trenton Potteries, Co. toilet that was listed for sale on eBay in 2022. , made in the 1930s, with these.

Overall dimensions are approximately 38 3/4″ tall by 21 1/2″ wide by 29″ deep. The seat mounts are spaced 5 1/2″ apart on center. The waste outlet has an outside diameter of 4″.

Below is a different Trenton Potteries toilet marked “Bellemeade Jr.” and described by WorthPoint. ” believed by the writer to be a Welling toilet.

– pricing guide at WorthPoint discussed by vendor regarding the toilet above worthpoint. com/worthopedia/antique-1910s-1920s-toilet-bowl-wall-1818326195 2022/08/24.

A brief history of toilets – Francis de los Reyes